Turkey’s discussions with al-Qaeda-linked militants ahead of its deployment in Syria’s Idlib province indicate that a wide-scale offensive against the militant group may not be Ankara’s primary objective, according to Charles Lister of the Middle East Institute.

Ahmed Barakat, a relative of Orouba Barakat and her daughter Halla, revealed he had killed the two women in Istanbul two weeks earlier because he had not been paid a salary after being employed by his cousin.